The first Fascist on the Left, socialism, and authoritarianism

The cartoon is politically correct. Benito Mussolini on his political roots:

“It was inevitable that I should become a Socialist ultra, a Blanquist, indeed a communist. I carried about a medallion with Marx’s head on it in my pocket.”

(Source: 1932 interview with biographer Emil Ludwig.)

And then Mussolini’s predictions for the future:

“it may rather be expected that this will be a century of authority, a century of the Left, a century of Fascism.”

(“The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism,” Italian Fascist Party authorized translation by Jane Soames.)

Note the equation of authority, Left, and Fascism. Mussolini’s politics is a variant on socialism in general.

(Related quotations and posts on Mussolini.) The cartoon was created by Bosch Fawstin.

4 thoughts on “The first Fascist on the Left, socialism, and authoritarianism”

  1. I was put in FB jail recently for quoting Mussolini. If I had omitted his name they would never have known.

  2. “According to the idea of the NSDAP [Nazi party], we are the German left. Nothing is more hateful to us than the right-wing national ownership block.”
    Der Angriff (The Attack), (6 December 1931), quoted in Wolfgang Venohr’s book: Documents of German existence: 500 years of German national history 1445-1945, Athenäum Verlag, 1980, p. 291, In German: „Der Idee der NSDAP entsprechend sind wir die deutsche Linke. Nichts ist uns verhaßter als der rechtsstehende nationale Besitzbürgerblock
    link to German history book: https://historyuncensored.wixsite.com/history-uncensored/historical-quotes

    –from L.K. Samuels

  3. “According to the idea of the NSDAP [Nazi party], we are the German left. Nothing is more hateful to us than the right-wing national ownership block.” — Joseph Gobbels

    Der Angriff (The Attack), (6 December 1931), quoted in Wolfgang Venohr’s book: Documents of German existence: 500 years of German national history 1445-1945, Athenäum Verlag, 1980, p. 291, In German: „Der Idee der NSDAP entsprechend sind wir die deutsche Linke. Nichts ist uns verhaßter als der rechtsstehende nationale Besitzbürgerblock
    link to German history book: https://historyuncensored.wixsite.com/history-uncensored/historical-quotes

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